Run with it
by luvin-the-coffee
Summary: When Lorelai joins the town baseball league, unexpected things begin to happen between her and Luke. What choices will they make as they start to question their friendship? This takes place in the summer of season one! Reviews are welcome! Chapter 6 up!
1. I bet you

AN: Hello! Just to provide the context for this story, it takes place in season 1, Rory is dating Dean and Lorelai's single, because her and Max never got back together. It's the summer and Rory and Lorelai are really bored. Please read and review!  
  
"You suck!" Lorelai hollered to Luke as he threw his sixth ball of the game. Her and Rory were sitting in the third row of the bleachers and munching on pop tarts as they took turns shouting at the players. Lorelai discarded the wrapper and handed a pop- tart to Rory.  
  
"Mmmm, blueberry."  
  
"Oh no! Wait! The blueberry poptarts are in reserve for throwing at Luke! Here, have strawberry."  
  
"Why can't strawberry be in reserve?"  
  
"Because we have soooo many blueberry and if we're going to waste our extra pop- tarts it might as well be by throwing them at sucky baseball players in flannel."  
  
"Oh, ok."  
  
"4 balls. Walk." The umpire, called across the field to Dean. Luke wiped his brow in frustration as Dean moved to first base smiling broadly.  
  
"Hey bud, did I ever mention to you that you're the worst player on this side of California."  
  
"Plenty of times Dean," Luke grumbled in response.  
  
"In fact I think that a 2 year old could pitch better then you."  
  
"Hey Dean! You need some polish up on some of those disses!" Lorelai yelled to him as Rory handed out words of encouragement to her amateur boyfriend,  
  
"Dean, Bootsy's up next! Remember to duck so you don't get hit in the head!"  
  
Bootsy took his stance, bat in hand, and smiled a devil's grin at Luke. It was well known to the entire town that the one person who hated Luke more then Taylor Doose was Bootsy. It was something that as Luke put it, went back to their elementary school days. They looked each other square in the eye, and then Luke glanced down to where Kirk, the back catcher was crouched, sticking out his middle finger to the ground. He chuckled, but then shook his head, and whipped a fast ball straight at Bootsy. Miraculously, Bootsy hit it, and it made its return straight into Luke's stomach. He stumbled to the ground, winded.  
  
"Time out." The umpire called, as Luke's teammate's rushed over to help him. Lorelai and Rory were among the first people to his side.  
  
"Luke, are you ok? I didn't really mean it when I told him to knock you over, I swear!" Lorelai kneeled down beside him, as he grimaced and then glared at her.  
  
"Great words of comfort." He muttered.  
  
She smiled at him, but then took his hand and helped to pull him to his feet. He winced, holding onto his stomach.  
  
"That was for stealing my dunkaroos." Bootsy announced airily as he laid down his bat.  
  
The umpire approached the small semi- circle that had gathered around Luke. "We'd better end the game there guys," he said, "Luke can't play after that."  
  
"No, don't let me ruin the game Josh, we can still cream these guys."  
  
Lorelai shook her head, "The game's tied at zero zero, good luck with that!"  
  
Rory continuesd in the same cheery voice, "We were running out of cherry pop tarts anyways, and there's no way that I'm going to sacrifice blueberry if I don't have to."  
  
Josh turned to Luke, "Let's call it game, Luke. Next Sunday is as good as any to finally end this losing streak."  
  
"End the losing streak," Lorelai laughed, "Did you hear him? He said end this losing streak. That's a good idea."  
  
"Why don't we try to shut her up while we're at it?" Luke finished.  
  
"I was gonna say "get me a date with James Bond" but yours works better."  
  
"Luke, you'd better go and lie down, so you're ready to play next Sunday,"  
  
"Ok. Bye guys."  
  
Various men and adolescents from the town waved bye to him as he trudged, arm wrapped around his middle towards the road. Lorelai left Rory to chat with Dean as she trailed after Luke.  
  
"Well, I think that coffee's next on the list after mocking the town's "baseball league.""  
  
"It's Sunday," he replied without turning around. "I'm closed Sunday afternoon."  
  
"Ohhhh, please Luke, I'll give you my Babe Ruth baseball caaaaaaaaaard!"  
  
"Babe Ruth? If the best you can do is players from the 1930s then I'm going home."  
  
"Well, you're going home anyways, so....coffee!!"  
  
"You're sick."  
  
"I know. Coffee is my medicine. Prescribed by Carl, ask him if you don't believe me."  
  
Luke crossed the street to the diner and Lorelai fell into step beside him.  
  
"You know, you guys really do suck."  
  
"I know." He muttered, as he unlocked the door and reluctantly let her inside.  
  
"I think that you need some women on the team."  
  
"Thanks for that insight," he answered deadpan as he crossed behind the counter. She took a seat on her stool and an idea suddenly struck her.  
  
"Oh! I'll play!"  
  
"What?" he asked, whipping around so that the coffee almost slopped out of the pot.  
  
"I'll play."  
  
"Do you even know how to play?" he asked skeptically. He poured her a mug full of coffee and then placed it behind him as he leaned up against the back counter, listening to her interpretation of the game.  
  
"Uh, duh. You whack a ball with a stick, you run; it's not rocket science Luke."  
  
"It's not a Flintstones episode either."  
  
"Ok, so maybe I need to fine tune my knowledge a bit, but that doesn't mean that I can't play!!"  
  
"It's a guys game."  
  
"Hunh, can you say sexist? Anyways I can be a guy." She lowered her voice dramatically. "Hey Fred, did you get peanuts with that beer? Did you see the game last night? We creamed them." She started to chuckle and Luke looked at her, slightly amused.  
  
"Seems like you have to fine tune your knowledge on men too."  
  
"No, wait, I'm not done!!" She adopted the same voice again, "Has anyone seen my flannel, or my baseball cap? I feel naked without them."  
  
"You have to fine tune your knowledge on men." Luke repeated.  
  
"Whatever. But I can still play! You can't stop me! There's no rule that says the women of Stars Hollows are not permitted to play baseball. I'm just as entitled as you."  
  
"Ok then, be my guest. But I bet you that you won't be able to score a home run by the end of the summer."  
  
"You're on!" she announced, always ready for a challenge, "Now I just need someone to teach me the basics....."  
  
Silence descended. Lorelai took a sip of her coffee, but then looked up and stared expectantly at Luke.  
  
"Luuuuuuuuuuuuke."  
  
"Why me?' he asked tiredly.  
  
"Because, although you are undoubtedly the worst player on the team, you are also my friend, and this is the type of thing that friends do."  
  
"Fine. But that bet's still on."  
  
"That bestows a lot of trust in your teaching skills."  
  
He winced as he touched his bruise. Lorelai noticed.  
  
"Oh, well, I'd better go, you have to fix up that battle wound and Rory's probably waiting for me. When can you give me those lessons?"  
  
"Well....Ceaser usually takes charge on Tuesday afternoons, that's when I have my break. So, how about Tuesday at the field, at 3:00."  
  
"Awww, you'll sacrifice your one break to teach me baseball."  
  
"Don't get too cocky, it's for the safety of the team."  
  
She laughed lightly and then met his eyes, and smiled into them.  
  
"Ok, well, see you then...wait, before then. Happy coffee, duh." She stood up, and headed towards the door, grinning to herself with some unfathomable reason as to her sudden gaiety.  
  
"Bye Lorelai." Luke called.  
  
"Bye Luke." She replied.  
  
Luke watched her leave, unable to wipe the smile off his face. This gave him an excuse to see Lorelai out of the restraints of his diner. He shook his head as this thought filled him with butterflies. Her words interrupted his jubilation. "This is the type of thing that friends do." A frown regained it's presence on his face, as he headed up the stairs to look at his bruise.  
  
AN: Hopefully that clues you in as to where this fic is going (!! Please review so that I know whether or not I should continue! 


	2. Batting practice

Lorelai walked briskly into the field yielding a very old wooden bat that she had dug up out of her garden shed. Luke was leaning against the bleachers, and she almost missed him as she glanced around the field.  
  
"Top of the morning to you!" Lorelai saluted.  
  
"It's the afternoon," he replied nonchalantly. "And WHAT are you wearing?" he asked, gawking at her outfit.  
  
"Oh, I thought this was the team uniform." She gestured to her green and blue stripped flannel shirt and backwards baseball cap, and smiled eagerly at him. He just shook his head, a smile dancing on his lips.  
  
"So, let's get started! But first....did you bring coffee?"  
  
"It would've been dangerous not to," he pointed to a paper cup sitting on the bleachers beside him. She gave him a swift hug, but then pulled away embarrassedly and reached for the cup. She took a sip, just as refreshing as always.  
  
"Are you ready to play?"  
  
"Yup, I've got my cracked lump of wood, my pants hitched up high, all I need now is the piece of straw to chew on and I'll be set."  
  
"Ok. What do you want to learn first?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"Good...." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"A diagram of the field," he muttered, as a touch of pink heated his cheeks.  
  
"You drew me a diagram." She said flattered.  
  
"Well, some people are visual learners. I didn't know if you'd want to walk around and stuff, looking at the different plates, so I just drew a picture."  
  
"Could you draw me a picture of Johnny Depp for next week?"  
  
It was a question that didn't anticipate a response so Luke let it slide, as he motioned Lorelai over to look at the diagram. They sat down together on the first bleacher, and he pointed to a small square in the middle and at the left hand side of the page.  
  
"This is first base."  
  
"First base. First base. Now I think I might need a memory aid for that one. You know, maybe a little acronym to remember it with or a saying....first base...f.b......free beer! Wow! I'm really getting good at that guy thing."  
  
He chuckled at her sarcasm.  
  
"This is second base," he said, pointing to a square to the right of the one that he had just introduced.  
  
"Second base! That'll be even harder to remember....Luke, I don't need a "baseball for dummies lecture", I know the bases."  
  
"Well, you said "anything", so I was starting from ABC."  
  
"Can I try batting?"  
  
"Fine.....but don't blame me if that old thing cracks right down the middle."  
  
"If it cracks right down the middle, then I'll have two, now let's get batting!"  
  
"Ok, I'll pitch to you, you show me how you think it's done."  
  
"Yes sir." Lorelai picked up the bat, and turned to her side, holding the bat up in position. Luke pitched the ball and she swung at it but missed miserably. The ball fell to the ground beside her.  
  
"Yeah. So. I think I need so me help with that."  
  
"Yup. Just a little." He made his way over to her. "First of all, you need to be standing in the right space. See that hole over there?" he motioned to a little indent in the surface of the field about a foot away, "That's where your back foot goes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't know, because that's where everyone puts their back foot."  
  
"But why in a hole?"  
  
"So if they get bored they can keep digging until they hit China."  
  
"Mr. Danes, you're not doing your job properly, I might just have to tell the principal that-"  
  
"You should go on a coffee diet."  
  
"Not in your lifetime."  
  
"So, your back foot goes in that hole and you stand sideways like the way you were, here show me how you stood again."  
  
She demonstrated for him and he nodded.  
  
"That's better. Next time when I pitch it though lift your front foot up for momentum, keep your eye on the ball and really swing the stick."  
  
"Glad we're getting into the specifics." She replied sarcastically. Luke backed up ball in hand and pitched her slow ball. She swung the stick, but it would've been apparent to even the least athletic person in the entire world that she did it entirely wrong.  
  
Luke chuckled lightly to himself. She looked ridiculous, yet had an air about her as if to say that she had been doing this all of her life. That was one of the things that he found intriguing about her, her confidence was always there, even in the most trivial situations.  
  
"You're hitting it all wrong."  
  
"Ok then! Mr. Five star pitcher, you show me."  
  
He glanced at her exasperatedly but then sighed and strode back to her side. She was still standing in ready stance, so he inched in beside her, and took a hold of the bat below her hands.  
  
"Ok," he murmured, "I'm going to swing it and you just feel the motion."  
  
"Ok." She responded. He took the bat back a bit and then swung it forward and she felt the ease with which the bat moved, and knew that this was the right way to swing.  
  
"It's not that hard." Luke coaxed and suddenly she was intensely aware of how close he was to her.  
  
"No," she replied hoarsely. She felt the sweat dampening her hands as her grip tightened on the bat and she rejoiced in the moment of intimacy they were sharing. She could feel him pressing lightly up against her and as he swayed the bat gently once again, she leaned just a little closer into him. Her pulse was racing, unknown to Luke. She recoiled bitterly to any notion that he could be feeling the same things as her.  
  
"That's right." He said feeling obligated to fill up the silence, though wanting so badly to say something other then what he did.  
  
He swung the bat one more time just to insure that she could feel the movement. He really didn't want to move away from her but if he didn't soon, he would let the cat out of the closet. Each second was passing like hours. He drunk in the smell of her perfume and almost let go of the bat and wrapped his arms around her. But the moment passed. And soon they were just two people, who had been holding a bat for an elongated amount of time, with no explicable reason as to why.  
  
"Uh, that's good. Gotcha, It's all making sense to me now."  
  
"Oh right." He let go of the bat and moved away from her, staring at the ground.  
  
"So, batting, got that down now I think."  
  
"Yup. You seemed to be catching on to the batting part."  
  
"Well, what else was there to catch onto?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know. Uh- did you see? I brought coffee."  
  
"I had some already."  
  
"Oh, right. So, is there anything else that you want to go over today?"  
  
"No. I think that that's good. I'm set. Ready to kick your ass in that bet. Hey, what do I get if I win anyways?"  
  
"A lifetime supply of tofu."  
  
"Uh. You're sick." She said. "But do you know what I could do with? A lifetime supply of danishes."  
  
"Hey, I think I have some stale ones in the back, if you want to come over, you know a little post game snack."  
  
"Aw mom, you're the best!  
  
"Jeesh." Luke rolled his eyes, picked up the ball, and deposited it in his pocket.  
  
"Luke, I think that I'm actually going to get going home, I left Rory reading up in her room and I have to get that kid out into some sunlight before they fire Casper and give her the job."  
  
"Ok, when can you next do this?"  
  
"Um- well, I'm working long hours at the inn, the rest of this week, but I'll google "baseball" and read up for the game on Sunday. See ya!"  
  
"Bye." Luke replied as he headed towards the diner. He was mildly concerned about her lack of interest in feasting on danishes, but he was still too confused about the batting incident to give it that much thought.  
  
Once Luke's back was turned, Lorelai hurried away in the other direction. What had that been about? She wasn't really the type of person to read too much into stuff like this, after all Luke was a man of mystery, but the desire that had struck her while he stood behind her was just to big a thing to overlook. She and Luke had had moments like this before, but she'd always denied any ideas that she could be attracted to him and said that the awkward situations were just twists of fate. Lost deep in thought and confusion, Lorelai walked straight into Miss Patty as she out skirted the field heading for home.  
  
"Oh. Hello there dear. How did your lesson with Luke go?"  
  
"You know about that?"  
  
"Oh yes, it's all over town."  
  
"Patty! This is nothing even remotely interesting, Luke's just teaching me the basics so I can help out the team that's all."  
  
"Oh, but it is interesting." Her eyes shone with excitement and an all too familiar look that Lorelai knew to be her accusatory expression.  
  
"You two were quite close quarters there a second ago, I suppose that was just him showing you how to swing the bat?"  
  
"Yes. It was. Now if you'll excuse me Patty, I have to get going, Rory's waiting for me at home, but it was nice talking to you."  
  
"You too dear. Oh! And remember the town summer dance is in three weeks at my dace studio. I'm sure that some young handsome diner owners are anticipating an invitation."  
  
"Bye Patty." Lorelai turned around and strolled away as casually as possible. She'd always been a little astounded by Miss Patty's nerve, and the town's tendency to see things that she herself couldn't quite grasp.  
  
!!!!!  
  
AN: Hey! I 'm pretty sure that I know where I'm going with this, but still, your reviews would be really appreciated! Also, just a note for the next chapter, in this story Rachel has already come to Stars Hollow and left just the way she did in Season 1. 


	3. Baseball cap?

"Hey!" Lorelai greeted as she entered Luke's, early Tuesday afternoon. "Do you have any extra baseball caps?"  
  
"Hello to you too," he grumbled in response as he walked away from a customer and towards the counter. She took a seat in her regular stool and smiled casually at him.  
  
"I need a baseball hat for today's practice, and I know you have a whole rack of them hidden away in that secret closet that is common in a Boo Radley residence, so baseball hat please!"  
  
"You know, generally a diner only has a specific selection of things to offer."  
  
"Pleaaaaaase. I left mine at the park on Sunday, you know after that lovely tie of zero zero, and I need one, sooooooooo permission to go upstairs and poke around in your hermit underwear drawer?"  
  
"No. You can have coffee but that's where I'm drawing the line." He poured her a welcome mug of brown goodness and she took a sip, but headstrong as always she persisted on.  
  
"Luke, if you don't give me a baseball cap, my head will get burnt, I'll get sun- stroke, I will not be able to play in the game, therefore insuring that your team will lose because I won't be around to distract the other players by yelling random movie quotes at them."  
  
"You never give up."  
  
"It's what I'm renowned for."  
  
"Ok. Just wait a second. My lull starts in around 2:00 after everyone's done eating lunch."  
  
She took another sip and looked pleadingly at him over the rim.  
  
"It's 2 minutes until 2. Does your lull always begin at 2 o'clock on the dot?"  
  
Luke started at her in exasperation.  
  
"No. Come on." He ushered her behind the counter and she followed him up the stairs and into the apartment.  
  
"Why can't you just get one at the clothing store anyways?"  
  
"Hah. Trust you to know any town boutique as "the clothing store". Anyways, I tried one and all of the caps said something stupid on them like "Foxy" or "Spoilt 55" or "Flirt". Not really my style. I don't like to give away the package by the hat."  
  
Luke chuckled to himself. He was still edgy about having her in his apartment, but he made his way over to his dresser as casually as possible and opened it up. As he was rummaging through to see if he could find any old baseball caps, Lorelai took in her surroundings for the first time since Rachel had left.  
  
"Ah I see you still have the frilly curtains. Funny, I thought after Rachel had left you would've torn them down and sought after the nearest garbage can as fast as you could."  
  
Luke flushed, as he turned around to reply, gesturing to the curtains.  
  
"Yeah, well, Rachel made me promise to keep them.....uh, doesn't look like I have any extra baseball caps in here."  
  
"Ok, try a drawer?"  
  
"Oh right, yeah." He walked over to the little bedside table beside his bed and opened it up. He didn't see Lorelai lost in contemplation, nor her sudden change in expression, one that would've motivated a little light bulb to turn on top of her head had she been a cartoon.  
  
"Luke, why did Rachel leave? I remember you were about to tell me that time when you came over to pick up your toolbox but you never really got around to it."  
  
"Oh. She had her reasons."  
  
"Such as....?"  
  
"Well, Stars Hollows got too small for her once again, so she took to the road, I knew it was coming, it's no big deal, nothing to fixate on."  
  
"Yeah, but I'm curious...." Lorelai trailed off, as she wandered over to the bedside table on the other side of his bed and opened the drawer. She knelt down and began to rummage through.  
  
"You said "reasons", that implies that there was more then one thing. It couldn't just have been her quench for adventure taking the better of her again."  
  
Lorelai shuffled past a clump of baseball cards, and found herself staring at a package of condoms. She almost choked holding the laughter in, not quite sure why she found this discovery so amusing. She continued to question Luke as she dug underneath the package.  
  
"Was it something else?"  
  
"Uh...no, no....nothing else...it was just that."  
  
"Oh." Lorelai replied, somewhat disappointedly, "Because if there was another reason, which you've assured me that there wasn't, you know you could tell me, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Yeah."  
  
"Just because- you know- that's what friends do."  
  
Luke laughed, though it sounded a bit forced, "Hey, who said we were friends?" he demanded playfully.  
  
"You're about to lend me one of your baseball caps, those things are like your most prized possessions, if this isn't friendship, then I don't know what is."  
  
"Well, there isn't anything in here," he said, shutting the drawer and standing up.  
  
"Or here," she added, following suit.  
  
"Who gave you permission to look through that anyways?"  
  
"A dust bunny under your bed, it said, "Lorelai, why don't you sort through one of Luke's drawers to speed the process up a little?" And of course I couldn't say no, because it was such a cute piece of dust, so I sorted through your drawer, put the dust bunny in my pocket and named it Fred."  
  
"Did you ever consider taking up residence in a mental asylum?"  
  
"Once, but that was when I was six and I got brain freeze from a slushie, I took the term a little too literally."  
  
He acknowledged her statement with a chuckle. "So, there are no baseball caps here."  
  
Lorelai glanced around for one last time, "Wait! What's that?" she pointed to a bit of green material peeking out from underneath a bunch of "Home Hardware" books on his coffee table. She hurried over and lifted up the pile of books, revealing a flattened green baseball cap.  
  
"Aha! My work here is done!"  
  
"You can keep that one." He answered shyly.  
  
"Thanks. Maybe once I buy a few more I can start a fan club and merge it with yours!"  
  
He rolled his eyes, so accustomed to her teasing, that it no longer perturbed him.  
  
They headed out of his apartment and down the stairs. She made her way out from behind the counter and smiled at him.  
  
"Thanks Luke. I'll see you in an hour, ok?"  
  
He nodded, but stopped her in her tracks when he noticed her half empty mug sitting on the counter.  
  
"Wait! I forgot to mention an idea I had the other day, a payment plan for your coffee here."  
  
"That's a good idea! Tell me about it after you teach me how to catch?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan."  
  
"See ya Luke."  
  
"Bye," he waved to her and watched her progress down the street, a smile dancing on his lips.  
  
!!!!!  
  
AN: Hey! I hope you liked this! Please review! 


	4. My dad

AN: Hello! I might be putting the chapters up a bit more slowly now just because I'm really busy, but please keep reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm thickening the plot a bit. Enjoy!!  
  
!!!!  
  
The sun was glowering down upon the baseball field of Star's Hollows. It was Lorelai's second game and already she was considering quitting due to the heat. She had peeled off her flannel and was standing impatiently in outfield wearing shorts, a tank top and his green baseball cap as Luke pitched yet another unsuccessful ball. In the bleachers, she could see Rory, pop tart in hand. She waved at her daughter and Rory returned her greeting. Lorelai lifted her hand over her eyes and watched Luke pitch another ball, smiling foolishly to herself. He had taken off his flannel too, and now was sporting a tight grey t-shirt. She caught sight of his muscular arms as he threw a fastball and giggled lightly as she noticed the mutual expression on Miss Patty's face on the sidelines.  
  
"Finally!" Lorelai exclaimed as a town youngster jogged towards first base. It was the most interesting thing that had happened in the last fifteen minutes. The kid dodged for second and Andrew, searched hopelessly for the ball around him.  
  
"By your foot!" Lorelai hollered. She rolled her eyes at Andrew's stupidity. This was worse then sitting through one of Emily Gilmore's lectures. As the kid who had hit the ball made a stop on second base, smiling proudly, Luke called a time- out, and the team gathered around him. Lorelai jogged over from her position.  
  
"Hey Luke, ever consider getting a mascot or something to lighten the mood here? I think that Sookie and Jackson just left this to go and stare down a well."  
  
He glared in frustration at Lorelai, but addressed his next comment to the rest of the team.  
  
"All we need is strategy."  
  
"Or a diversion! Who here can strip dance?" Lorelai interjected.  
  
Kirk, who had switched teams, yet again, raised his hand, smiling ruefully. Lorelai turned to him, but Luke spoke before she had a chance to question him.  
  
"Your negative attitude isn't going to help us win."  
  
Lorelai stared at him, "My negative attitude? Last time I checked Luke, you weren't exactly the court jester yourself."  
  
"I'm trying my best as a member of the team, not just standing in outfield wishing I was home painting my nails."  
  
Lorelai gasped, "Who told you that?"  
  
"It's obvious that you have other places you'd rather be, no one needs to tell me that, so if you don't want to play then leave."  
  
She was shocked and hurt. She had never expected Luke to take her whining so seriously.  
  
"Fine!" she replied, matching his tone, "I'll leave."  
  
"Don't forget the after game party at my house!" Oliver, the postman, yelled after her as she threw down her glove and started to march angrily away. Luke muttered "Good riddance," under his breath. However, once he saw her stomping off to the sidelines, a frown evident on her face, even from a distance, he instantly regretted his short temper.  
  
Lorelai edged over to Rory on the bleachers.  
  
"What was that all about?" Rory asked, concerned.  
  
"Luke yelled at me. So, I left." She took a seat beside Rory and put her head in her hands.  
  
"He yelled at you?"  
  
"Yup. Yelled. Starts with y, rhymes with felled."  
  
"Whoah. Someone's grumpy."  
  
"No. I'm just p-oed. I mean- who does he think he is? This is a free country. If I want to complain about our fabulous winning streak, then I will. He can't just tell me to leave."  
  
"Mom, he's the team captain."  
  
"So, if he's a captain, then he should be nice. Captains are leaders and leaders are supposed to be kind and caring and approachable."  
  
"You're in your whiny mode again."  
  
"So what? Let me whine! I never get to whine and I feel like whining."  
  
"Ok, but I don't think that this situation really calls for whining, I mean it's not like he kicked you out of the big leagues or anything, this is a small town baseball game. The worst that can happen at one of these is that a UFO lands right in the middle of the field and abducts all of the players."  
  
"I wouldn't hate that so much right now." She replied, smiling devilishly.  
  
"Trust me mom, after this game, we'll go over to Luke's, you'll beg coffee from him and this will all be forgotten as you banter back and fourth like your getting paid for it. You guys always fight. That's what friends do."  
  
Lorelai sighed and stared out at him sharing a high five with Andrew who had finally caught a ball. When since was her kid able to judge her and Luke's relationship so well? She sighed and turned to Rory with a smile.  
  
"I guess you're right hun."  
  
!!!!!  
  
She felt like making amends, and as she entered Oliver's house, she realized that right now would be the perfect time to do so. This was stupid, crazy stupid. When Lorelai had gone to Luke's for coffee, a little while after the game, he had just fumed at her and said that it was too hot of day and that he wasn't making it. No banter, no sarcasm, not even one comment about how she was going to die at a very young age. She didn't understand how something so little had caused Luke to act so distant towards her.  
  
She snaked past Miss Patty and Taylor Doose, who fit the scene like a cat in a dog kennel. She was greeted instantly by the man who was hosting the party himself.  
  
"Hi!" Oliver said. "You missed it, we tied the game, but at one one!!!"  
  
Lorelai smiled charmingly in response. "Oh no, I was there, I just wasn't as thrilled as I would've been."  
  
"Oh yeah. Luke was pretty mean to you, hunh? Well, he's upstairs watching the t.v. if you want to talk to him."  
  
She laughed nervously. "Why is he upstairs if the party's down here?"  
  
"We dragged him here, against our better judgment, but I told him that he could go and watch baseball upstairs to avoid the crowds and loud music."  
  
"Ah. Well, that's Luke."  
  
"Yup." He turned around to greet some more people who had just entered, and Lorelai made her way up his wooden stairs and down a floral wallpapered hall to a door that had a crack of light peeking out from it. As she approached the door, she heard the drone of cheering fans. She knocked tentatively.  
  
"Come in." responded Luke's voice. She opened the door and saw him perched on a quilted bed, beer bottle in hand, an empty and a full one beside him, peering at the screen of the t.v.  
  
"Hi Luke," she greeted quietly.  
  
"Oh. Hi," he said abruptly, turning to her, and then quickly flicking the t.v. off. He scooted over on the bed, so that she would have room to sit, and she obliged to his indistinct offer. The last thing he had expected was for her to show up.  
  
"What are you- what are you doing here?"  
  
"Partying. You know, because that's generally what you do at parties."  
  
"Oh right." He replied forlornly, "Well, I was just up her watching baseball-"  
  
"Because that's what YOU do at parties."  
  
"Ever since my first one in grade 9."  
  
Silence descended, they both went to break it, "Listen-"They said at the same time, and then laughed clumsily.  
  
"Go ahead." Luke offered.  
  
"Uh- well, I was really babyish today, I mean, I never realized how important winning this was to you, and if I did well, I would've taken the games more seriously."  
  
"It's not about winning." Luke murmured.  
  
"Um- baseball's not about winning? Well, my reason for tuning in has always been the guys in tight pants, but I really think that the town committee would frown on you doing so for the same reason."  
  
Luke chuckled, but then began to talk, in a sentimental tone, one that Lorelai hardly ever heard him use. His voice was distant, exploring old memories, but it betrayed emotion that glimmered in him at the strangest of times.  
  
"My dad- he was the one who taught me how to play. Every day when I came home from school, he'd be out in the front yard, bat in hand, baseball cap on, a smile on his face, waiting for me to take off my backpack and pitch. It was one of those things we did together, you know? He was on the town league too. God that man loved to win. I used to cheer for him on the sidelines. He was never very good, but I couldn't help feeling proud of him as he sent that ball flying. I always wanted to be just like him. Now, whenever I play, I think of him, and I can't help but thinking whenever I send a ball flying, that that one was for dad."  
  
Lorelai was moved almost to tears. Luke was staring at the quilt work, blushing furiously. She wanted so much to make him know that she understood. She reached for his hand, took it in hers and squeezed it. He looked up at her.  
  
"Pretty stupid, hunh?"  
  
"No. Not stupid at all."  
  
He glanced down at her hand and then returned the squeeze and they laughed together. It was one of those moments where Lorelai felt the heavy weight lift from her heart, and finally knew the reason why everything seemed a lot clearer. But, the moment was interrupted by a loud shout from downstairs. Lorelai, embarrassed, unlatched her hand from Luke's.  
  
"What were you going to say?" He asked her.  
  
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to ask if we were still on for Tuesday."  
  
He smiled brightly at her. "Yep. Your session's not over yet. And we still haven't discussed that payment plan."  
  
Lorelai laughed.  
  
"Hey. Pass me a beer. Let's watch some little men in tight pants running around after germ sized balls!"  
  
"Ok." He switched the t.v. back on and passed her the unopened beer that he had at his feet. She made herself comfortable on the bed beside him, and watched him watching the game. Neither spoke, they just sat and watched, although if asked later, neither would know what the score had been.  
  
!!!!!  
  
AN: Hi! I wanted to add a sentimental note to this after all of the humor. I hope you liked it! Please review! 


	5. The annual spring dance

AN: Thanks for the great feedback!!!  
  
!!!!!  
  
The echo resonated throughout the field. The bleachers had been brought to their feet in uproarious cheering, and Lorelai felt blessed to be so popular. They had reason to be cheering. Lorelai had just scored her first ever home run, tied in with the fact that she had also hit her first ever ball. Lorelai really had no idea how she had come from swinging at air to scoring a point, but she knew that the rush of exhilaration that she had felt was definitely worth the long wait for glory. Her team-mates surrounded her in a hug as she clung onto the fence panting. She was overwhelmed, but happy that she had finally made her contribution. This being said the only person that she wanted to find right now was Luke. She felt like an "I told you so" was in order. She saw him as the players cleared out, and headed back to their places in line against the fence. He was at the end of the line, and smiling at her.  
  
"I told you so!" She exclaimed, skipping over to him, with the vitality of a six- year old. She gave him a high five, though, as her fingers lingered close to his palm for a second and she remembered last nights occurrences she quickly pulled her hand away and deposited it in her pocket, blushing.  
  
"Congrats," he replied deadpan. But then he glanced sidelong at her and was smiling once again, "I knew you'd win. The minute we made that bet."  
  
"Explain Miss Cleo."  
  
"13 years of railing on you for digesting enough coffee to make mush out of your central nervous system, and you never once stopped drinking it."  
  
"A coffee- less Lorelai is like a jelly-less peanut butter and jelly sandwich."  
  
"Yeah. Either that or you're as stubborn as a mule."  
  
She smiled flirtatiously, "Well, we've already established that."  
  
"So, what do you want for winning that bet?"  
  
"Oh....I don't know. Organic salad I think."  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"Give me some time to think about. I'll come up with something. Maybe you can clean out my rain- gutters or something."  
  
"Hey, but that's the kind of thing that I do for free," he said graciously.  
  
"Ok then. I'll think of something else. But right now I know one thing that you can do for me."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Help me win this game for your dad." She beamed at him and he was overcome with an immense emotional bliss as he returned the smile.  
  
!!!!!  
  
"I hit the ball and we won! We won!" Kirk skipped around the field, doing a little happy dance, as the other team members gathered giving each other highs fives. They'd triumphed two to one. Luke was unable to wipe the grin off his face. He and Lorelai met each other's eyes over the crowd and he motioned her over to take a seat on the bleachers with him.  
  
"It was a good day for the both of us," he murmured, staring out at the array of cotton candy clouds spanning the horizon, but still not shielding them from the lowering sun.  
  
"Yeah. Weird. But you would've made your dad proud Luke, you sent that ball flying. That's a pretty big feat."  
  
He kicked at the ground.  
  
"No big deal. I've scored lots of home runs before."  
  
"Really?" she asked him playfully, "When?"  
  
"Uh- well- I can't name all of the times- I mean by "a lot" I'm talking about a few hundred."  
  
"Hey Pinnochio, why's your nose growing?"  
  
"No! Seriously."  
  
"Hundreds of times?" she asked sceptically.  
  
"Ok, so maybe not "hundreds" but I'm entitled to over- exaggerate today. We just won our first game of the season."  
  
"Yes. You are entitled to over- exaggerate today, and you are also entitled to celebrate."  
  
"Crack open a beer, lock myself in my apartment and watch t.v., celebratory enough?"  
  
"For you that's a record. But not quite what I had in mind."  
  
"What did you have in mind?"  
  
She took a deep breath and tried to focus on her response and not the sounds of the players and their families going home for the night. She exhaled and summoned up the courage to ask a question that didn't come out as a question at all.  
  
"Well- I was thinking of attending a little annual town thingy tomorrow night, and since you're my town festival bashing buddy, I think that the night would be pretty dull without you."  
  
He stared at her blankly. Then what she had just suggested registered. She'd just proposed the inevitable, and yet he found himself doing a double take wondering why he hadn't been the one to make a move first. Lorelai Gilmore had just asked him out. His heart was racing against light. But then he caught himself. Obviously she was just extending a friendly offer. He yelled internally for thinking otherwise. He turned to her, a little disappointed.  
  
"Are you talking about the town dance?"  
  
"I'll take pointless festivals for five hundred Alex. That's exactly what I'm talking about."  
  
"The celebration in which you watch two hypocrites dressed up in pilgrim outfits and re-enacting the moment when the two founders of our town shared their first dance and-"  
  
"Yada yada yada. Yup that's the one."  
  
"I'll go.... but ONLY because I would hate for there to be no one there to point out the futility of affection towards something that doesn't even have feelings to Doose."  
  
"Oh! Oh! Let me guess this one! A town."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Ok, well, I better get going now. But, I'll see you there tonight Luke."  
  
"Yep, bye."  
  
She smiled in response, and he watched as she picked up her bat and trod towards the exit of the field. Suddenly, he remembered what he had been meaning to ask her.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
"Yeah?" Lorelai spun around.  
  
"You never told me what you wanted me to do for you."  
  
"I'm still thinking about it. I'll tell you tonight." She yelled back across at him, and he nodded.  
  
She made her way down the street of Stars Hollow smiling to herself. She knew exactly what she wanted him to do for her, but she wasn't sure if he'd be very willing in his response.  
  
!!!!  
  
AN: Hello. Please review! The end is near....mwhahahah, but it's a happy end. 


	6. Won at their own game

"You did come!" Lorelai exclaimed, walking over to Luke, smiling, a cup of punch in hand.  
  
She looked him up and down, "And you're wearing the trillion percent off stuff that I got you from Bloomingdales. Suave. Better watch out, Patty's ogling you."  
  
Luke glanced over to where Patty and a few of her gossiping friends were watching Luke, and giggling among themselves. He laughed stiffly and returned her compliment a little less subtly.  
  
"You don't look so bad yourself.  
  
She was wearing a short, green, blue and black floral print skirt and a black blouse. Lorelai blushed. Luke hardly ever noticed what she was wearing and when he did, he never felt the need to mention whether or not it met his approval. The only exception to this was winter days when she came in dressed up to the nines but obviously freezing her butt off. To Luke, comfort was more important then style.  
  
"Oh no!" he groaned and pointed behind her. She turned around. Sure enough a group of men and women had just paraded out, of what would be assumed by the uninformed person to be a time machine. But it was really just the change room of Miss Patty's studio. They set out, greeting the guests, and Lorelai chuckled at Luke's reaction to them.  
  
"And the idiocy begins." He murmured to Lorelai. However, Miss Patty, who had been crossing the room on her way to talk to them, overheard as she stepped into the conversation.  
  
"Oh! Luke! You always were such an inspirited boy! Even as a child, you were always the last to dunk for apples at the Halloween parties I used to throw!"  
  
She slapped Luke playfully on the shoulder, scolding him. He glanced at Lorelai with a hopeless desperation and she laughed to herself. Once Patty got her claws on the chosen man of the evening, there was no turning back. She thought up some options for his rescue, but only one idea stuck in her mind as a way to get rid of Patty.  
  
"Patty, you know, we'd really like to stay and chat, but Luke was just finishing asking me to dance, and well, I'm sure that YOU wouldn't object to that, so, if you'll excuse us..."  
  
"What? You two came here together?" Patty demanded, eyes gleaming.  
  
"No-"Luke began. But Lorelai was too quick for him.  
  
"Yes we did. And you just finished asking me to dance didn't you Luke?" He caught on, glanced from her to Patty and then back again and nodded.  
  
"Yes. Yes, I did." She expected that Patty would leave after he had acknowledged this gesture, but instead she remained beside them, intent on seeing that she wasn't being fooled.  
  
"Oh. Well....I wouldn't interrupt that. Go ahead then."  
  
Lorelai looked at Luke, and he met her eyes, looking more desperate then before. If he had any dance shoes they would be in his wardrobe collecting dust. Luke was not a dancing man. Or at least, Lorelai's perception of him was that he wasn't.  
  
Lorelai, seeing that she would have to take the lead, grabbed Luke's hand and led him out onto the dance floor. She didn't feel any resistance, but when she turned around to him amid the dancing couples, she saw that it was a lost cause.  
  
"Come on Luke! Play along! I swear only one dance! To get her off your heels."  
  
"That was not a smart move. In a minute she's going to have the whole town watching our every move."  
  
"Just dance."  
  
She had no idea what she was doing to him. While she saw this as only a way in which to get Patty away from him, he felt like he had swallowed his heart, and it had gotten stuck in his throat. He promised himself that if he could just get through this without letting anything slip, he would be fine.  
  
It seemed instantly, as he wrapped his arms around her and they took their first step of a clumsy waltz that something in the atmosphere changed. Maybe it was the end of one song and beginning of another, or the electricity that coursed through her body when he pulled her close, she felt like this wasn't a dance being shared between friends.  
  
Lorelai tried to ignore the thumping of her heart and turned her attention to the lyrics now pouring over the celebration.  
  
"Uh. Clay Aiken. A sin to modern pop culture."  
  
"Never heard of him," Luke said huskily, as he wrapped his arms farther around Lorelai's waist.  
  
There's something bout the way you look tonight,  
  
There's something bout the way  
  
that I can't take my eyes off you.  
  
Theres something bout the way your lips invite,  
  
maybe its' the way that i get nervous when you're around.  
  
And I want you to be mine  
  
and if you need a reason why....  
  
Luke sought to break the silence. As comforting as it was, he always needed something to fall back on.  
  
"What do you want me to do for you? For the bet. You never said."  
  
Lorelai took a deep breath, "I want you to tell me why Rachel left."  
  
He stared at her hard, but then his gaze softened, he hadn't expected it to be something so simple and yet so demanding.  
  
Its in the way that you move me,  
  
and the way that you tease me the way that I want you tonight,  
  
its in the way that you hold me,  
  
and the way that you know me,  
  
when I can't find the right words to say, you feel it in the way,  
  
you feel it in the way.  
  
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to- I mean it's not like you were sworn into doing anything I wanted you to. But-"  
  
He sighed, letting the past go in one soft outtake of breath.  
  
There's something bout how you stay on my mind,  
  
there's something bout the way  
  
that I whisper your name when I'm asleep  
  
Oh no.  
  
Maybe it's the look you get in your eyes.  
  
Oh baby it's the way that makes me feel to see you smile.  
  
And the reasons they may change but what I'm feeling stays the same.  
  
"She accused me of being in love with someone else."  
  
Lorelai's body tensed in his arms, but she looked up at him daringly, waiting for him to continue.  
  
Its in the way that you move me,  
  
and the way that you tease me the way that I want you tonight,  
  
its in the way that you hold me,  
  
and the way that you know me,  
  
when I can't find the right words to say, you feel it in the way,  
  
you feel it in the way.  
  
"And were you?" she asked as lightly as she could.  
  
I  
can't put my fingers on just what it is  
  
that makes me love you,  
  
you baby.  
  
So don't ask me to describe,  
  
I get all choked up inside,  
  
Just thinking bout the way.  
  
Luke looked her right in the eye, "I think that you already know the answer to that." It was all she needed to hear. As if in response, she laid her head down on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.  
  
Its in the way that you move me,  
  
and the way that you tease me the way that I want you tonight,  
  
its in the way that you hold me,  
  
and the way that you know me,  
  
when I can't find the right words to say, you feel it in the way,  
  
you feel it in the way.  
  
!!!!!  
  
As the music played on in the lighted studio across the street, Lorelai and Luke entered the Star's Hollow baseball field. Everything was dark except for the twinkling lights that enwrapped Miss Patty's hall. They had wandered across the street as Lorelai insured, to get away from the buzz of "hideous music", but they both knew that it was really to stay away from the town gossip committee.  
  
"I had fun tonight," Lorelai announced as Luke took her hand and helped her up onto the bleachers.  
  
As he took a seat beside her, he nodded his head in agreement, "So, uh....."  
  
"Do you want to play baseball?" Lorelai asked out of the spur of the moment.  
  
"We're all dressed up."  
  
"So, I can run in a skirt. Just don't be expecting me to do the splits or that weird sliding base thing because this was expensive."  
  
He chuckled. "The extra equipment's locked up."  
  
"So? Look." She pointed at a dark smudge leaning up against the fence,"Kirk left his bat here, when he ran home doing his happy dance. We're playing whether you like it or not, Buster."  
  
She made her way over to the bat and picked it up, as Luke located a ball that had been abandoned in outfield and jogged back. He pitched the ball as she stepped into place, but she swung like a maniac and missed it by a long shot.  
  
Luke laughed to himself. "Looks like it's back to square one."  
  
"Luuuuuuuke, I can't bat anymore, will you help me?"  
  
"How could you have forgotten that so fast?"  
  
"See, here's my theory, baseball's more like math, you never really learn the skills in the first place, that way when it comes time to forget them, which is right after the test, they slide out of your mind like a slug."  
  
"You are sublimely strange."  
  
"Thank you. Now will you help me?"  
  
He walked over, and stood in close beside her. He placed his hands on the baseball bat just below hers. They swung the bat, as if she was learning for the very first time. The heat and desire that lingered between them was intensified by twenty. But this was no longer unidentifiable feeling, because both of them knew what the electricity implicated. Along with that, neither of them was scared anymore. They were done playing dodge ball at the accusations thrown at them because now they knew the truth. Lorelai shivered, and Luke as if on cue twirled her around in his arms. He was reliving every moment that he had ever wanted to do this in their entire history, except now he was doing it right. Luke drew her in close and placed his lips lightly on hers. She didn't resist but instead returned his passion. Luke pulled her closer and she moaned with pleasure into his mouth.  
  
Suddenly a click resounded around the field, and their surroundings as well as them were bathed in light. There was soft cheering from a few onlookers, and Miss Patty, who grinning out of pure joy had switched the light on. But Luke and Lorelai took no notice.  
  
They had won at their own game. It had taken them a long time, but they had won.  
  
THE END!!  
  
!!!!!  
  
AN: Lol, the whole ending bit is a bit far fetched, but I wanted to end it with something to do with baseball, and decided to add in a metaphorical level too. Anyways, I hope you liked it!!! Please review and thanks so much for all of the feedback from the other chapters! 


End file.
